It's All in the Gut
by sbartist357
Summary: The penguins are due for a checkup, one that involves X-rays. Since anything metal will show up on the scan, Rico needs to empty his stomach before the appointment. Sounds simple enough, except for when a certain lemur complicates matters. . .
1. Time for a Checkup

**Hey, everybody! Welcome to another sbartist357 PoM fanfiction! I won't say much here, so please enjoy the first chapter! :)**

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It was another beautiful day in New York City and, in the Central Park Zoo, our favorite commando penguins were performing their daily morning drills on top of their fake ice floe. This time, they were sumo wrestling.

"Rico, are you ready?" Skipper asked from the sidelines. The crazy penguin grunted in the affirmative, assuming a sumo stance. The leader turned to Kowalski, who was standing opposite from Rico.

"Kowalski, are you ready?"

"Yes, sir! I'm ready for action!" He squinted with determination as he stared down his opponent. Private, who was acting as the referee, raised his flipper.

"Alright, on the count of three, wrestle. One, two, three!" Rico and Kowalski charged toward each other, yelling as they went. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Private saw someone coming and turned to get a better look. Skipper followed his gaze.

"It's Alice!" Private cried.

"Kowalski, Rico! Ditch the sumo outfits on the double!" Skipper ordered. The two penguins hastily removed their sumo gear, threw it down the fish hatch, and joined Private and Skipper in formation just in time. Alice stood in front of their habitat with a clipboard and looked at them.

"It looks like you four are headed to the doctor's tomorrow! This time, you're getting X-rays," Alice began to walk away but stopped. "Don't try anything like you did last time!" She added. Once she was gone, the penguins looked at each other.

"Well, that's better than getting a shot. We all know how that went." Skipper said, relieved. Kowalski, on the other hand, looked concerned. The leader noticed this and decided to ask him about it.

"What is it, Kowalski? Don't tell me you're afraid of getting an X-ray." He said teasingly. The lieutenant shook his head.

"No, it's not that, Skipper. Rico's stomach contents will be picked up on the X-rays. That could lead to either Rico getting surgery to remove the items. . . or worse." The weapons expert grabbed his stomach and muttered a string of worried-sounding gibberish. Skipper turned to Rico and gave him a reassuring pat on the back.

"Don't worry, Rico. We won't let that happen. All you have to do is empty your gut before we get there."

"But Skippah, how long will it take Rico to empty his stomach?" Private inquired. Skipper turned to Kowalski, who was already sliding the beads on his abacus back and forth.

"Roughly an hour, give or take a few minutes." He finished, looking at them.

"See? Nothing to worry about," The leader stated confidently. "We'll take care of it once the zoo closes for the day. Until then, let's give the crowd our usual smile and wave routine." On cue, the clock tower chimed nine o'clock, meaning the zoo was officially open.

Meanwhile, in the lemur habitat, King Julien was preparing for his regular dancing routine to entertain the guests.

"Maurice, are you ready to be shaking your booty with the king?" Julien asked, stretching and practicing some kingly poses. His assistant nodded.

"Sure thing!" Mort, who was standing next to him, jumped up and down excitedly.

"I'm ready to shake my booty, King Julien!" He exclaimed, getting slightly closer to the king's feet with each hop. Julien ignored him and pointed to their boombox.

"Maurice, cue the royal dancing music!" The dark gray lemur walked over to the radio and turned it on. Loud music came pounding out of the speakers. Julien wasted no time in pulling out some of his favorite moves, attracting the attention of nearby zoogoers.

"Yes, peoples! Come watch your king!" Julien shouted, twisting and flipping on top of the main platform.

"Yay, King Julien!" Mort cried, dancing just inches away from Julien's feet. The king saw him and danced away from the tiny lemur. Mort continued following him, oblivious. Maurice tried to distract the crowd by showing off a few moves of his own several feet away. It worked and, when the crowd wasn't watching, Julien punted the smallest lemur out of the habitat. He soared through the air, heading to the penguin habitat next door.

"Just smile and wave boys, smile and - oof!" Skipper was interrupted by a ball of fur plowing into him. He stumbled backward a little before reaching up and prying the projectile off his face.

"Hi!" Mort greeted.

"Sad Eyes!" Skipper said, putting the mouse lemur down. "What are you doing?"

"I'm a projectile!" He answered, giving the leader a cute smile. Skipper scowled in the direction of the lemur habitat. How come Julien always seemed to send Mort their way? He turned back to him.

"Alright, Sad Eyes, head home. Next time, if Ringtail wants to kick you, make him do it in the other direction."

"Okay!" With that, Mort went back to entertain the zoo patrons and try again at the feet. Skipper sighed and resumed waving with the rest of his team.

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 **Okay! Nothing really happened yet! :D Don't worry, things will start getting interesting in the next chapter. Don't forget to follow and favorite the story if you like it! :)**


	2. X-Ray Prep

**Alright, Chapter 2 is here! :D As promised, things will get more interesting in a moment.**

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The rest of the day went on without any further problems and, after receiving dinner from Alice, the four penguins went down into their HQ to get Rico ready for their doctor's appointment.

"I've made a list of all of the items currently in Rico's stomach. I'll check them off as we go until everything's accounted for." Kowalski said, pulling out his clipboard and showing Skipper the list. He smiled and turned to Rico.

"Okay, Rico. I want you to start getting everything that's not food out of your belly, comprende?" Skipper asked. The penguin sporting a mohawk nodded and coughed up his favorite flamethrower first. Kowalski crossed the corresponding doodle off.

"Flamethrower, check." Next came a stick of dynamite. The lieutenant marked that off as well. This continued as Rico regurgitated many other items and weapons. All was fine until. . .

"Hello, neighbors!" Julien's voice rang through the HQ as he dropped down from the fishbowl entrance followed closely by Maurice and, even closer, Mort. Skipper groaned and turned to them as Rico continued hacking up his inventory.

"Ringtail, how many times have I told you that our HQ is for us and us alone?"

"Eh, I don't know, but counting is not a job for the king, which is me. That is for Maurice to be doing. Right, Maurice?" He turned to his assistant, who shook his head yes. Mort stared at Rico and pointed.

"Why is the penguin throwing up all that stuff?" He questioned. Julien looked at Rico and grimaced.

"Ugh, yes! What is the gross penguin doing? It is assaulting my kingly eyes!" He turned away from the scene, trying not to puke.

"We're going to the vet tomorrow, and Rico needs to empty his stomach so he gets a good report." Private replied as Rico retrieved a bazooka from his gut.

"I don't. . . ugh. . . remember the barfy penguin to be doing this before." King Julien responded between gags.

"This time is different. We're getting X-rays, which means all of these items would be picked up by the scanners, and that could lead to serious consequences." Kowalski explained, continuing to check items off the list. Suddenly, an anchor flew out of Rico's mouth and hit Mort in the head, knocking him out.

"Anchor, check."

"Eh, getting what-rays?" Julien inquired, confused.

"X-rays, a form of electromagnetic radiation commonly used to examine the bone structure of various animals."

"English, Kowalski. You know Ringtail is simple-minded." Skipper retorted. Julien glared at him.

"How daring of you! I am not one of simple minding! I like fancy things, like my crown! DOES THIS LOOK SIMPLE TO YOU?" He shouted in Skipper's face, making him grit his beak in anger.

"Get out of here, Ringtail! We're busy!" He shoved the lemur toward the ladder, but Julien resisted.

"You cannot be shoving me! I am the king! Maurice, punish him!" The short lemur glanced at Skipper, who gave him a daring look, and decided not to try.

"Uh, I'm going to pass on that one, Your Highness." He replied, heading to the ladder and dragging an unconscious Mort behind him. Julien crossed his arms and glared at his right-hand man.

"Well, then I will do it myself!" What the tall lemur did next was something no one was expecting.

He grabbed a heavy mallet off the floor and chucked it at Skipper. He ducked just in time, but Rico wasn't so lucky. The weapon hit him just underneath his ribcage, causing him to fall over and gasp for air. Instantly, the other penguins rushed to his side as the lemurs stared on, shocked.

"Kowalski, analysis!" Skipper yelled. He watched helplessly as the weapons expert thrashed around, struggling to breathe.

"It appears that the mallet hit Rico's diaphragm, which controls breathing. He won't be able to get air for a minute or two."

"Will he be okay?" Private asked, deeply worried for him.

"Yes, he should be," Kowalski replied as he turned to Rico again. "Try to take slow, deep breaths." The penguin nodded and tried his best to follow the instructions. Skipper got up from where Rico was lying and spun to face the lemurs, Julien in particular.

"Ringtail, if you don't get out of here right now, I swear that I will take that mallet to you myself. NOW GET OUT!" The lemurs were gone before Skipper even finished the sentence. Once he was sure of their departure, he rejoined the group and was relieved to see Rico slowly but surely getting air again.

"How are you feeling, Rico?" He asked.

"Okay." He grumbled, taking steady, deep breaths. The others gently moved him to the side wall so he could rest with his head up. Skipper crossed his flippers and looked at his options guy.

"Kowalski, when this is all over and done with, I want you to fix our security system so that no lemurs will be able to get in here, period." Kowalski nodded.

"Yes, sir." He flipped over to a blank page in his notepad and started making plans to upgrade their security system while they waited for Rico to recover. After a few minutes, the demolitions expert got to his feet.

"Are you okay, Rico?" Private questioned. The crazy penguin nodded.

"Alright, then. How much more is there?" The leader asked, turning to Kowalski for an answer.

"Hmm. . . Just a pair of sushi knives, a crowbar, and a flashlight." He responded after checking the list. Skipper clasped his flippers.

"Perfect, we're almost done. Okay, Rico, get to it."

The penguin opened his mouth to regurgitate the items, but nothing happened. He frowned and tried again. Still nothing. His third attempt seemed promising but, as the items started to make their ascent, a throbbing pain blossomed around his abdomen, and he stopped, grabbing his midsection and groaning. The others looked at him, confused.

"Kowalski. . ."

"I'm on it, Skipper." The lieutenant put down his clipboard and went over to Rico.

After looking inside Rico's beak, he went into his lab and retrieved his red X-ray vision goggles. He put them on and peered at Rico's stomach. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Kowalski stood up straight and gently poked him in the stomach. Rico winced.

"Well, what is it?"

"It appears that the blow Rico received from the mallet bruised his abdominal muscles, and is preventing him from removing the remaining items."

"You mean. . ." The leader started, concern evident in his voice.

"Yes, Skipper. Rico can't regurgitate."

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 **Well, that's. . . INCONVENIENT! :[ By the way, the X-ray vision goggles I mentioned are the ones Kowalski used in "All Choked Up" (they will be referenced later on as well). :)**


	3. A Change in Plans

**Why, hello again! This chapter is a bit short. Sorry! I meant to do that, though; the chapter would have been too long otherwise. ^^;** **Anyways, please continue! :)**

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Skipper and Private stood there, letting Kowalski's words soak in. Skipper's eyes turned to slits. This was all Julien's fault. That stupid conceded lemur always barged into their home at the worst possible time, and now this incident could be added to the list. Skipper clenched his flippers and let out an irritated sigh.

"Kowalski, cover the private's earholes. I'm about to use some of my angry words." The lieutenant waddled over to Private and did as he was told. Rico joined him and placed his flippers over Private's head as well. The leader took a deep breath, and the others braced themselves.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

From inside the penguin habitat, every single conceivable angry word Skipper could think of spewed out of his beak. The noise could be heard throughout the entire zoo, including the reptile house. Finally, after a full two minutes, the leader calmed down and the others took their flippers off Private's earholes.

"Now what?" Private asked the others. "Rico still needs to get those items out before tomorrow."

"Kowalski, you're going to need to give me some options, and fast." Skipper instructed, pointing at him. The scientist retrieved his clipboard and tried to think of a solution.

"Is there a way to stop the pain for a short while, just long enough for Rico to get the things out?" Private suggested.

"There are topical creams out there for bruises, but I'm not sure of their effectiveness on penguins."

"Keep that on the list, though. Just in case we can't think of anything else." Skipper said, giving Private a look of approval for the idea. He smiled back. Rico babbled something, grabbed his baseball bat from off the floor, and swung it around.

"Although that's really tempting, I doubt beating Ringtail to a pulp will solve our current problem."

"Aww, man!" The demolitions expert grunted in disappointment.

"We could try rescheduling the checkup until Rico recovers," Kowalski stated. Skipper thought for a moment.

"That might be a little risky. I don't want Ringtail injuring Rico further if we do get ourselves some extra time."

"We can keep Julien away from him so he can get better!" Private chimed in. Rico laughed maniacally and wildly swung his bat. In his excitement, he accidentally hit Private in the head, causing him to fall flat on his face.

"Oops. Sowwy." Skipper grinned and rubbed his flippers together.

"Ooh, I'm starting to like this plan! That way, if Rico has to clobber Ringtail, it's completely justified. But before we go with that, let's check with our options guy," He turned to said penguin. "Do you have any more last-minute ideas, Kowalski?" The tallest penguin looked at his notes and tried to think.

"How about-"

"Alright, then. Let's move! We have a doctor's appointment to postpone!" The penguins climbed the ladder and exited the HQ.

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 **Okay, so they're going to reschedule the appointment! We'll see how that goes in the next chapter. :)**


	4. Postponing the Appointment

**Woo-hoo! Chapter 4 is up! :) First of all, super big thanks to Ecto-1 for giving me my first review! :D Here's a virtual Peanut Butter Winky for you! Z[~]Z Hmm. . . It's interesting you should say that. . . (I don't want to spoil anything, though)! ;)**

 **Okay, now for a quick note: Although Rico has a bruise, his feathers still look normal (this is important to remember). Alright, onward!**

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Night had fallen, and it was nice and cool outside. Skipper looked at the clock tower and saw that it was now eight o'clock.

"We'll head over to Alice's office first. Then, after we change the appointment date, we'll sneak into the vet's office and change it there as well." The leader said. Private, Kowalski, and Rico nodded. The penguins flipped over the perimeter fence and landed on the path surrounding their habitat. They dropped onto their stomachs to slide to Alice's office, but Rico gasped and quickly turned onto his back.

"I think we should walk instead, Skipper. Rico's bruise is sensitive to pressure." Kowalski noted, getting up and helping Rico onto his feet.

"Right. Sorry, Rico." They waddled as fast as they could over to Alice's office and entered through the conveniently-opened window.

"Okay, men. Look around. We need to find Alice's clipboard." The four penguins split up. Luckily, it didn't take long.

"Skippah, I found it!" Private called, standing on top of the zookeeper's desk and holding it up for him to see.

"Good work, Private!" The others joined him on the table.

Private placed the clipboard down so Kowalski could scan the form on it. He located the date and time of their appointment in the upper right-hand corner of the page, grabbed a pencil from the cup on the desk, and carefully rewrote it so that they would get their checkup the day after.

"Finished!" Kowalski told the others.

"Excelante. Let's go to the vet station." The penguins jumped down from the desk and exited the same way they came.

In no time at all, they reached the zoo hospital. The penguins used the same method to get in as they did with Alice's office and began searching around for the veterinarian's records. Their search came up empty in the examination room, so they made their way to the vet's personal office. The door was locked.

"Rico, since you can't regurgitate anything right now, you'll have to find something to help you pick the lock." Skipper said. Rico nodded, climbed onto one of the nearby counters, and rummaged through some medical supplies. He took one that would do nicely and dropped back down to the floor. Skipper saw him as he rounded the corner.

"So, Rico, you found something to pick the – GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!" The leader suddenly threw himself against the wall on the far side of the room. Private and Kowalski turned to see what Rico was holding to cause such a reaction: It was a syringe.

"Rico, you know Skippah is afraid of needles," Private said.

Rico replied in gibberish, explaining that it was the only thing he could find that would work. He jumped up, grabbed the doorknob with one flipper, and stuck the needle into the lock with the other. After jimmying it around, the lock made a soft click, and Rico turned the knob and let go. The door swung open.

"Okay, Skipper, the door is open. You can come back now." Kowalski called.

"Not until Rico throws that instrument of torture far away!" The leader replied, still clinging to the wall across from them.

Rico tossed the needle onto the counter he got it from and showed Skipper that he was no longer holding it. Skipper shakily rejoined the group and they entered the vet's office. Unlike the search in Alice's office, finding the doctor's appointment record was a bit harder to locate.

"I think the vet might have his records on the computer." Kowalski guessed, seeing that the clipboards hanging on the wall didn't have what they were looking for. They went to the desk and turned the computer on. The first thing to appear after it booted up was the login screen. The scientist pressed a few random keys on the keyboard and hit the enter button. Shockingly, that didn't work.

"Try the most obvious: 1-2-3-4." Skipper said. Kowalski entered it in and the password was accepted.

"Wow. You'd think the doctor would have a more secure password."

"That deranged man thought it was, but he didn't count on us, did he?" The leader smugly replied. Kowalski smiled and grabbed the mouse to navigate around the interface. The first icon he selected opened up a browser window showing the last page the vet had visited. Of all things, it happened to be a needle supplier. Skipper's eyes widened.

"NEEDLES!" He fell off the desk and landed with a splat. Private rushed to the edge of the tabletop and looked down at him.

"Are you okay, Skippah?"

"Kowalski, if you don't get rid of that web page in five seconds. . ."

"Sorry, Skipper!" Kowalski quickly closed it and clicked on another icon. A video appeared that the penguins remembered all too well. It was an embarrassing video of Alice, singing and dancing to some music after the zoo was closed for the day. Rico quickly covered Private's eyes as Skipper climbed back onto the desk. He stared at the monitor.

"Ugh, not that again. Why does the vet have that on his computer, anyway?"

"I don't know, sir," Kowalski answered, trying to stop it.

"Well, if you need me, I'll be on the floor." The leader turned away from them and dropped back down.

After removing the awkward clip from the screen, Kowalski examined the monitor carefully. Finally, he clicked on the icon they were looking for, which displayed all of the zoo checkup appointments. He scanned through the list until he saw theirs and clicked on the date box to fix it. After successfully doing so, the lieutenant saved the newly-made changes and shut the computer back down.

"Okay, the vet's copy of the record is set," Kowalski stated, turning back to the others. The leader rejoined them on the desk and smiled.

"Alright! Phase one of Operation: Checkup is complete. Up high!" Skipper exclaimed. The flightless birds exchanged high-fives (or ones, since they're penguins).

"I like the name, Skippah!" Private complimented.

"I know! It is pretty clever, isn't it?" They slipped out of the vet station and headed back to their habitat.

Now that they had bought themselves some time, the next step was keeping Julien away long enough for Rico's bruise to heal. Skipper hoped it wouldn't be too hard. Boy was he wrong.

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 **Poor Skipper: Two needle scares in one chapter. :/ Oh, well, he's fine. :) Yeah, I tossed in a reference to "Tangled in the Web"; I loved their faces when they saw that clip of Alice! XD Okay, so they got the appointment rescheduled, but what will happen now?! The next chapter shall answer that question! :)**


	5. Trying to Recover

**Welcome to chapter five! Thanks again to Ecto-1 for reviewing! :) Oh my goodness! XD That would have been good, but no, the penguins don't tie Julien up (unfortunately, the zoogoers would probably notice his absence). ;) After you read this chapter, though, you'll wish they had. Okay, time for more reading! :D**

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The next day in the lemur habitat, Julien woke up and yawned. After his quick escape from his furious penguin neighbors the previous night, he had gone straight to bed. His loyal subjects were still sleeping on the bouncy next to him, and he quietly slipped off it to avoid rousing them.

It was still a bit early, and the sun was just beginning to peek through the skyscrapers of Manhattan. The day was absolutely peaceful. Julien suddenly heard some noises and climbed up to his throne to see where it was coming from. As it turns out, the penguins were already up and training on their iceberg. He looked at them and thought.

"Hmm. . . I wonder if I should talk to the fishy-smelling penguins?" He said to himself. On one hand, he didn't want to be threatened with a mallet again – the king needed to stay unharmed in order to rule over his kingdom, but then again. . .

"Hello, Your Majesty." Maurice's voice startled him, and he nearly fell off his throne.

"Maurice! You interrupted my kingly thoughts!" He scolded him.

"Sorry, King Julien. I didn't mean to scare you," The short gray lemur replied. "What were you thinking about?"

"I was questioning whether or not I should talk to the smelly penguins," Julien answered, looking over to their habitat. Maurice looked at him in disbelief.

"What? You mean you actually want to talk to them after what happened last night? I wouldn't be surprised if this time Skipper beats you to a pulp!" To his surprise, Julien laughed at him.

"Oh, Maurice! Skipper wouldn't do that!" He waved a hand dismissively. Maurice cocked an eyebrow.

"And why not?"

"Pfft, because, Maurice, I am the king! Who can be angry at me for long?" He hopped down from his seat and headed over to their flightless neighbors. His assistant stared after him.

"Well, I can think of a few. . ." He muttered to himself.

Over at the penguins' habitat, Skipper and his men were doing practice combat. It was Private's turn.

"Private, you're up!" The leader said, already in combat position. The smallest penguin raised his flippers in a similar pose.

They began circling around each other, waiting for the other to strike. Skipper made the first move. He charged toward him and threw a basic punch. Private blocked it easily and tried an attack of his own. He kicked, but Skipper grabbed his foot and raised it, lifting him into the air. Private quickly recovered by doing a backflip and landed on his feet a short distance away. Skipper smiled; the young cadet was doing a great job.

"Well done, Private! But can you handle the next level?" He asked, still holding his combat pose.

"Yes, sir!" The two penguins resumed fighting. This time, it was constant. Private and Skipper were each throwing and blocking punches, karate chops, and kicks. The battle was getting intense. Everyone was focused on the fight, so much so that it was no surprise that the penguins didn't notice Julien climbing over the fence and landing on their fake iceberg.

"Hello, silly penguins!" He suddenly appeared next to Private, throwing his hands out in greeting. He hit Private in the process, causing him to stumble and fall into the pool with a splash. Skipper face-flippered.

"Ringtail, what are you doing here?" Skipper asked, putting his flippers on his hips. Private surfaced and climbed back onto the platform, dripping with water.

"I came to accept your apology." The party lemur answered graciously.

"You WHAT?!" The leader was outraged. Julien smiled, oblivious to the penguin's growing anger.

"I know you're surprised. It's not every day that a smelly penguin gets the honor of apologizing to the king," He turned to Kowalski and Rico while Skipper glared at him. "And as for the barfy penguin, I give you the same honor. You can be thanking me later, or now, it doesn't really matter. I know how much you want to praise me." Rico grunted and scowled; if only he had his baseball bat. . .

"We are not going to apologize to you, Ringtail. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever!" Skipper yelled. The ring-tailed lemur turned around to face him again, confused.

"Well, if you really want to, you also have the option of throwing a huge celebration for me. I have a small list that can help you with the party planning." Out of nowhere, Julien whipped out a rather huge list and unrolled it. The paper covered the length of the platform and continued until the edge of it landed in the water. The penguins stared at it with blank looks.

"No, I mean we're not doing anything for you, period! You're the one who should be apologizing, Ringtail! It's your fault that Rico got hurt last night!" Skipper shouted, really starting to lose his temper. King Julien's eyes widened.

"Me? Apologize to you? This is an outrageousness! You have desecrated the purpose of my royal visit! I will not apologize for something that is not my fault. If you do change your mind, I will be in my kingdom." He took his list back and started toward his habitat. However, he failed to notice the puddle of water on the ground and slipped, causing his feet to slam into Rico's gut. The penguin doubled over in pain as Julien slid right into the penguin pool, the splash adding more water to the already wet ice floe. Skipper, Private, and Kowalski surrounded Rico, trying to comfort him.

"Ugh! My beautiful fur is covered in fishy penguin water!" Julien cried after surfacing. The penguins were too busy consoling Rico to care (not that they cared about Julien, anyway). The lemur frowned.

"Fine, I shall get be getting my own booty out of the water myself. No need to be rushing to my kingly aid." He grabbed onto the fence and climbed out, dripping with water as he made his way back to his own habitat. Maurice saw him soaking wet and approached him.

"So, Skipper dunked you in the water, huh?"

"No, Maurice. He didn't do anything."

"What happened?"

"I was giving them the honor of apologizing to me, but they had the audacity to say that it was I who should be apologizing to them! Can you believe those stinky penguins?"

"Yeah, I believe them."

"WHAT? You too, Maurice? Why is everybody turning against the king, which is me!?" He asked, dramatically raising his hands in the air.

"Well, you were the one who threw that mallet at Skipper."

"Okay, that is true, but who told the bossy penguin to duck, huh? I had just meant to punish him for shoving the king. Was that too much to be asking?" Julien's advisor looked at the penguins' habitat and frowned when he saw Rico lying down and the others kneeling around him.

"I think you might have hurt Rico more than you realized." He commented, pointing over to them. Julien glanced at the flightless birds and suddenly felt a twinge in his chest, the same feeling he had when he and Skipper were stuck in Joey's pen. Maurice noticed his pained expression.

"Are you okay, Your Highness?" Julien just waved him off; he was too proud to mention his feeling of guilt to Maurice.

"Yes, Maurice. Now be leaving me alone. I need time to think." The aye-aye shrugged and did as he asked. Julien decided that he would sneak into the penguins' home later when the others weren't around. He needed to see Rico alone.

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 **DARN YOU, JULIEN! :[ Yeah, Rico's not having a good time, to say the least. As for the guilt-tripping, I figured it made sense to make Julien feel bad (I mean, he felt bad in "Assault and Batteries", which I referenced above). So, Rico's bruise is definitely not going to heal in time for their checkup now. What will they do? How will the meeting between Julien and Rico go? :O Find out in the next chapter! :)**


	6. Apology Not Accepted

**Okay! Chapter 6 has arrived! Thanks to those of you that have favorited the story so far! :)** **Ecto-1, I see what you did there! XD Well, we shall see what happens in a moment. . .**

 **Alright, just a few notes. First, this chapter switches back and forth a little bit, so please bear with me on that (I hope it's not confusing). ^^; Also, like my last PoM story, I'm using the bunk order from "Assault and Batteries" (i.e. Rico's in the third bunk). Oh, by the way, remember when I said Rico's feathers are still white? Here's why that was important. . .**

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The penguins were still surrounding Rico as he winced in pain; even when Julien wasn't trying, he could kick hard. They noticed that the feathers covering Rico's stomach were starting to turn black and blue.

"Maybe we should try getting that ointment," Private suggested.

"I think Private's right. Rico can't keep getting hit like this." Skipper added.

"I know! But I have no idea how those medicines will react on-" Kowalski thought of something. "Wait a minute!"

"What?" Private inquired.

"We can probably find some cream in the doctor's office! Why didn't I think of that before?" Skipper glared at him.

"Does it really matter right now, Kowalski?"

"Right. Sorry." He mumbled sheepishly. "So, when do we go?" They glanced at the clock tower. It was seven-thirty.

"Right now!" Skipper declared. He turned to his injured teammate. "Rico, you sit this one out. Report to your bunk and stay there until we get back." The crazy penguin gingerly got up, saluted, and headed inside.

The remaining penguins cleared the fence and slid over to the veterinary station as fast as possible. Unbeknownst to them, a certain ring-tailed lemur was watching them from his throne. Julien rubbed his hands together.

"Now is my chance to be apologizing to the barfy penguin without anyone knowing that I am apologizing to him." He looked to make sure his loyal subjects were not around before sneaking out of his habitat, grabbing a few items along the way.

In the meantime, Skipper, Kowalski, and Private reached the zoo hospital. The window was still open, but without Rico, they couldn't enter as easily as they did last night. They eventually decided that Skipper would keep watch outside while Private and Kowalski searched through the medical supplies inside. Skipper cupped his flippers in front of him and launched Kowalski and then Private up to the window. The two of them climbed in and began searching.

After his teammates had left, Rico went straight to bed as Skipper ordered. It took a while, but he finally managed to climb into his bunk and settle down without too much excruciating pain. This time, he made sure to take his bat with him; after all, Skipper said that any violence done to that annoying lemur would be justified and, if he got the opportunity, he was going to give Julien what was coming to him. As luck would have it, such an opportunity did come.

It was completely quiet in the HQ, the only sound being the incessant ticking of the clock on the wall. He sighed, groaning as another wave of pain surged through his abdomen. Suddenly, the side entrance opened and Rico looked to see Julien walking in, carrying flowers and what looked to be a very crummy self-portrait.

"Hello, barfy penguin!" He said, waving with his free hand. The penguin growled and gripped his baseball bat with both flippers.

"Why I oughta-" He tried to get up so he could hit the lemur.

"It's okay, silly flightless bird. No need to rise in my kingly presence," Julien continued obliviously, walking over to the bunks. "I wanted to speak to you alone."

Rico scowled. Hadn't he done enough to him already? He twisted his body and took a swing at Julien. However, the pain from his bruise became too much for him to bear, and he dropped the weapon. Rico turned onto his back and hissed in agony. Eventually, the aching subsided. Miraculously, Julien was too busy staring at the floor to notice anything had happened.

"Go 'way," Rico mumbled, waving his flipper. The lemur ignored him and spoke again.

"I came to. . . Well, I wanted to. . ." He struggled to finish his sentence. Rico looked down at him, impatiently waiting for him to say something.

"I'm sorry, okay? I, King Julien, apologize for hitting you with the heavy mallet." He exhaled deeply, an embarrassed look on his face. Rico blinked, dumbstruck. He wasn't expecting that. Julien climbed the lower two bunks so he could see Rico face-to-face.

"I brought you some kingly get-well gifts!" He showed the penguin the flowers and drawing. As much as Rico wanted to grab the lemur and strangle him, he couldn't move, so he settled for glaring at him instead. The ring-tailed lemur looked at Rico's bruised feathers and grimaced.

"Ooh, that looks to be hurting." Rico self-consciously tried to cover them with his flippers and flinched. Julien frowned and climbed down from the bunks. He walked over to the table and placed the flowers and his self-portrait on it.

"There. That way, you can admire my kingliness while you rest," Julien explained. He started to leave.

"Be getting better soon, okay? The king cannot be taking too much of the guilty feelings." He shut the door behind him, leaving the penguin alone again.

Meanwhile, Kowalski and Private were standing on a countertop in the examination room.

"Okay, Private. The cream we're looking for should be in a long, red-and-white tube." The scientist described, opening a drawer underneath him and rummaging through it. Private waddled over to the adjacent counter and began pulling drawers out. After digging through every drawer in the room, they found nothing.

"This is getting us nowhere." Private sighed. The pair looked across the examination room to see an elevated glass cabinet. On one of the shelves was a red-and-white-colored tube.

"That's it!" Kowalski shouted. Private squinted his eyes.

"Are you sure? I thought you said it was a red-and-white tube. That one looks white and red." Kowalski looked at him.

"That's the same thing, Private."

"Oh." They jumped down to the tiled floor and slid toward it. From outside, they heard Skipper's voice calling to them.

"Look out, men! Alice is coming!" At that moment, the doorknob jiggled. They hastily hid behind a nearby cabinet and waited. The door next to the glass cabinet opened and Alice barged in, looking unhappy as usual. She walked past where the penguins were and knocked on the vet's office door.

"Hey, doc! I want to ask you something!" She called, looking at her clipboard in confusion and entering the office.

Once she was in the other room, Kowalski and Private waddled the remaining feet to the base of the medicine cabinet. It looked like the kind typically seen in Western movies, with a metal frame surrounding the glass panels and shelves. Private grabbed onto one of the legs and started climbing. When he reached one of the glass doors, he gripped the bottom edge of it with his flipper and pulled. It swung open.

"Great job, Private! Do you think you can reach the ointment?" Kowalski asked, standing on the floor directly in front of the cabinet.

"I. . . think. . . so. . ." The younger penguin stretched as he reached for the tube. He could just touch it with the tip of his flipper. Almost there. . .

"Okay, so the penguins have their checkup tomorrow." Alice's voice sounded louder as she reached for the doorknob inside the vet's office. In a last-ditch effort, Private extended his flipper as far as he could and knocked the tube off the shelf. Kowalski caught the medicine.

"Got it!" The tallest penguin said. Private closed the cabinet and joined Kowalski on the floor. They slid back to their hiding place just as Alice reentered the examination room and headed for the exit.

"I don't get it; I could've sworn that the penguins had their appointment today." She muttered, walking out of the vet station.

"Whew! That was close." Private whispered. Kowalski nodded.

"I'll say. Let's go back to Skipper and tell him we found the medicine." The two penguins slid back to the counter near the window and climbed up using the drawer handles as a ladder. They peered out to see Skipper waiting for them.

"Did you get it?" He asked. The lieutenant lifted the ointment for him to see.

"Yes, sir!"

"Great! Let's return to HQ."

Private and Kowalski dropped down into the bushes underneath the window and the three penguins returned to base. Just as they were about to reenter their habitat, they spotted Julien casually walking past, hands behind his back and staring at the sky. He and Skipper glanced at each other for a moment before the lemur disappeared over his habitat wall.

"That was strange. . ." Kowalski commented. The leader squinted after him.

"I concur. We'll think about that later. Right now, let's get this medicine to Rico and figure out our next move."

* * *

 **Well, Julien survived (cue the unamused cheers). ;) At least the penguins got the cream! :) Everything should be smooth sailing now, right? Hmm. . .**


	7. Too Much of a Good Thing

**Yay! I got two reviews this time! :) Super big thanks to my first guest reviewer! :D** **Here's a virtual Peanut Butter Winky for you! Z[~]Z I know, I do tend to do that but, like Skipper said, "Always leave them wanting more." (from "Go Fish") XD I'm glad you're liking the story! To Ecto-1, I know, right!? Julien deserves a good burn every now and then.**

 **Okay, let's see what happens next! We'll take up right where we left off. :)**

* * *

In the penguins' HQ, Rico was still lying in his bunk staring at the concrete ceiling. He didn't want to move from his current position, as any type of bending caused the bruise to hurt. The sound of the hatch door opening caught his attention and he rolled his eyes back to see who it was.

"Rico, we got the cream!" Skipper called as he climbed down the ladder first, the others close behind him. Rico smiled.

"A'right!" He threw his flippers over his head, causing the pain to strike again. "Ow!" He grabbed his abdomen. Okay, add cheering to the list of things he couldn't do. Kowalski stood on Private's bunk and showed him the tube of ointment.

"Okay, Rico. Here's the ointment. It's highly potent, so I'll just-" Rico grabbed the tube from Kowalski and squeezed a large glob of the medicine onto his stomach. He rubbed it into his feathers, smiling in relief as the cool substance reached his skin.

"Ah. . ." The crazy penguin sighed, letting his flippers drop as he waited for the medicine to take full effect. Kowalski quickly took the ointment away from him, panic etched on his face.

"Rico! I was going to do it! I said the medicine was highly potent!"

"Well, Kowalski, it might help if you explained that to us with less Nerd and more English." Skipper retorted. Kowalski sighed and jumped down from Private's bunk.

"This topical cream is really effective. Just a small amount is more than enough to alleviate a minor injury," He said, gesturing to the tube he was holding. "It's like the cream the vet gave you when you broke your flipper." The leader nodded in understanding.

"Alright then," He looked up at Rico, then back to Kowalski. "What do you think that amount of medicine will do to him?"

"Extreme numbness." He replied simply. They looked up at Rico again.

"Rico? How's the bruise?" Skipper questioned. Rico poked his stomach with his flipper and smiled when there was no pain. In fact, there was no feeling whatsoever. He tried sitting up, but the tips of his flippers were numb as well, and he lay down on his back again.

"Shouldn't we help him, Skippah?" Private asked.

"Affirmative."

They climbed up to Rico's bunk and slid him out of it. He landed on the floor with a thud and got up. The others stepped down from the bunks and stared at him in shock. His feathers were still slightly black and blue, but instead of his stomach sitting the way it normally did, it hung limp. Rico tried to lift it back into position, but it didn't work. He grumbled worriedly.

"It's okay, Rico. The numbness should wear off in a few hours," Kowalski reassured him and turned to the others. "Until then, we need to find a way to remove the remaining items."

"I take it from the look of Rico's gut that he can't do that on his own, right?" Skipper noted. Rico tried to cough something up, but the numbness prevented him from moving his belly at all.

"Correct." Kowalski took out his clipboard and wrote some notes down. Private spoke up.

"So, what are we going to do?"

"We'll have to manually extract the items from Rico's belly." The lieutenant answered, looking at him.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Skipper asked.

"There is a procedure the humans use called the Heimlich Maneuver. It's normally used when an object is obstructing the windpipe, but it just might work."

"Okay, then. What do we need to do?"

"Actually, I can do this myself. Just let me know if you see anything coming out, as I'll need to be behind Rico to do this."

Kowalski put his clipboard down and had Rico stand in the middle of the room. Once he was in position, Kowalski stood behind him, wrapped his flippers around Rico's abdomen, and made repeated upward thrusting movements, squeezing his belly. Rico's beak opened with each thrust, but nothing came out.

"Anything?" The scientist asked from behind Rico.

"Nope." Skipper replied. Kowalski tried again, thrusting a little harder. This time, two shiny objects shot out of Rico's beak.

"Look alive!" Skipper shouted. He and Private dove for cover as two sushi knives flew over their heads and embedded themselves into Private's First Prize plaque. The two of them got up and stared at it.

"My plaque!" Private cried. Skipper put his flipper on the younger penguin's shoulder.

"It's okay, Private; better it than us." Private gave a small grin. Kowalski let go of Rico, grabbed his clipboard, and crossed the sushi knives off the list.

"Sorry about that, Private. At least that's one less thing to worry about, but there's still the crowbar and flashlight."

"Couldn't you just repeat what you just did until everything's out?" The leader questioned. Kowalski shook his head.

"It's too risky. Performing the Heimlich Maneuver excessively can cause more harm than good."

"Umm. . . What kind of harm would that be?" Private inquired.

"Oh, tearing of the windpipe, for example." The scientist replied casually. The young penguin shivered. Skipper rubbed the bottom of his beak, thinking.

"In that case, we'll need to think of some other way." The room fell silent. Kowalski scribbled a new idea on his notepad.

"Wait! Both the crowbar and flashlight are made of metal. Perhaps if we use a strong enough magnet, we can lift them out!" He ran into his lab and returned holding a typical U-shaped magnet and a piece of string. He waddled back over to Rico.

"Okay, Rico, I want you to open your mouth and keep it open," Kowalski instructed, tying the string to the magnet. Rico obliged. The lieutenant slipped the magnet down Rico's throat. Moments later, they heard a small clang.

"I think you caught something!" Private noted. Kowalski carefully pulled on the string and the magnet reappeared, the crowbar now attached to it. It slipped out of Rico's mouth and fell to the floor. Kowalski smiled.

"Good job, Kowalski. Now for the flashlight." Skipper said.

"I'm on it." Kowalski had Rico open his beak again and repeated the process. When no sound was heard, he tried shaking the string before turning to Private.

"Private, get me my X-ray vision goggles. They should be back in my lab."

The young penguin entered Kowalski's lab and shut the door behind him. Everything was quiet. Suddenly, there was a muffled explosion and the door slowly opened again, revealing Private covered in soot and holding the goggles in his flipper. He waddled over to the scientist and handed the item to him.

"What happened?" Skipper asked, seeing Private's condition. He coughed out a puff of smoke.

"I don't know, Skippah. When I grabbed the goggles, something fell from out of nowhere and went off." The leader glared at Kowalski, who smiled nervously.

"Uhh. . . I was working on those anti-lemur security upgrades last night." Skipper squinted at him.

"We'll talk about that later. Just continue." Kowalski put the goggles on and looked at Rico's belly. The flashlight was sitting next to the magnet.

"It's right there! Why doesn't it stick?" He pondered aloud. The only reason it wouldn't be working was if –

"Oh."

"What?" Skipper questioned.

"The flashlight is made out of aluminum, which isn't magnetic," Kowalski replied.

"Great, so we need to figure out another way to extract it." Skipper face-flippered, annoyed. Private smiled.

"How about Mort?"

"What? Sad Eyes?"

"Yeah! After all, he did manage to remove that bomb the time Alice gave Rico that medicine."

"Well, technically, that could have been the result of-"

"Kowalski, let's just go!" The penguins minus Rico flipped up the ladder and headed over to the lemurs' place.

* * *

 **Okay, they're almost there. Will Mort be able to help? Will the other penguins notice Julien's pathetic get-well gifts? :O Find out in the next chapter! :)**


	8. Sad Eyes to the Rescue

**Yay! More reviews! :) Thank you, maggiemccl99! Have a virtual Peanut Butter Winky! Z[~]Z As for Ecto-1's review: Yeah, poor Rico. :/ Hmm. . . Well, let's see what happens. . . ;)**

 **Okay, back to the story!**

* * *

"Lower, Maurice. Almost there. . ." Julien was contently lying on his stomach while his advisor gave him a kingly back rub. Mort was also there, staring at the royal feet. Maurice reached the right spot, and the ring-tailed lemur sighed.

"Ah, that is more like it." He closed his eyes, grinning. At that moment, three blurs of black and white flipped over the brick wall and landed on the concrete platform. Maurice looked up.

"Hey, guys." He said, still rubbing Julien's back.

"Who are you talking to, Maurice?" Julien questioned, opening his eyes again. He noticed Skipper, Private, and Kowalski standing there. He smiled and waved at them.

"Oh, hello, silly penguins! How is the barfy penguin?"

"We need Sad Eyes." Skipper cut right to the chase, not bothering to answer the lemur's question.

"Eh, what for?"

"We need him to go inside Rico to get – oof!" Private was given a slap by Skipper.

"Oh, not that again," Maurice groaned, placing his hands on his hips. "Making him get that bomb out was dangerous enough. Sorry, but the answer is no."

"I agree with Maurice. I do not like this idea of dangerousness, especially if it can affect me, the king."

"It's not dangerous this time. The item we want Sad Eyes to get won't explode or cause any sort of damage. Right, Kowalski?"

"Affirmative." Julien thought it over.

"No."

"Ringtail, think about it this way: You get to take a break from Sad Eyes for a while. I'm sure you want that." The party lemur looked at Mort with disgust.

"Well, you do have a point there," He picked up the small lemur and threw him at the penguins. He slammed into Private and they both toppled over the side of the platform.

"We'll return him as soon as we can," Skipper looked down at Private. "Let's go, Private!" The penguins and Mort left.

"Please, no need to be rushing! Hey, you can even keep him if you like!" Julien called after them.

"I don't think I'll ever understand Ringtail," Skipper said to the others as they entered the HQ. "Oh, well. The sooner we get this over with, the better." As they reached the bottom of the ladder, Kowalski noticed something on the table.

"Uhh. . . Skipper?"

"What?" The lieutenant pointed to Julien's get-well gifts. Private waddled over to get a closer look.

"Some flowers and a picture," He stated, squinting at the drawing. "It looks like Julien, Skippah." The three penguins turned to face Rico, who had been sitting against the side wall waiting for them to return. He chuckled nervously.

"Rico, can you explain this?" Skipper asked, gesturing to the items.

"Uhh. . ." The crazy penguin mumbled, not meeting Skipper's eyes.

"Answer me, soldier!" Rico sighed. He told the others everything about Julien's unexpected visit, from the gifts to the embarrassed apology to him trying to hit the lemur with his baseball bat. When he finished, Skipper crossed his flippers.

"So that's why he was asking about you. . ." He turned to see Private sniffing the flowers.

"I think it's kind of nice, Skippah." He shut his eyes as the leader slapped him in the face.

"Private, this is pathetic! That lemur is too proud to openly apologize to Rico, so he actually sneaks in here while we're gone and gives him presents!?"

"That explains why we saw him casually walking by after we retrieved the medicine from the doctor's office," Kowalski added.

"THE FEET!" Mort, whom everyone had forgotten about until now, was hugging Julien's picture (well, the part with his feet). The penguins stared at him blankly.

"Okay. . . Well, now that we solved that mystery, let's finish getting Rico ready for the checkup." Skipper said. He and Private separated Mort from King Julien's self-portrait while Kowalski made Rico stand up in the middle of the room again.

"Ready, Rico?" The scientist asked. Rico nodded and Mort was promptly shoved down his throat. The only thing sticking out of Rico's beak was the lemur's fluffy tail.

"Hey, I remember this place!" Mort's voice echoed. Kowalski leaned closer to Rico.

"Mort, take the elevator again and look around for a flashlight." He instructed. Mort's tail disappeared as the lemur did as he was told.

"Hmm. . . I see it!" The mouse lemur cheered. The others smiled.

"Good. Now, I want you to grab it and bring it back up, okay?"

"Umm. . . Okay!" There was silence as a few minutes passed. Skipper began tapping his foot impatiently.

"What's taking so long?" Kowalski shrugged and leaned toward Rico's stomach again.

"Mort? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah."

"What are you waiting for?"

"I can't see anything!" Mort yelled. Skipper groaned.

"Turn the flashlight on, then!" Kowalski replied, becoming slightly annoyed. The inside of Rico's beak lit up as Mort turned it on.

"I can see! Yay!"

"That's great, Mort," Kowalski replied flatly. "Now, come back up with the flashlight." Finally, Mort's tail reappeared and Kowalski pulled him out with the flashlight in tow. Private smiled and patted Mort's head.

"Good job, Mort. You did it!"

"Yay!"

"Ugh, please tell me that Rico's gut is finally empty now." Skipper said, exasperated. Kowalski grabbed his special goggles and looked at Rico's stomach.

"Yes, Skipper. Rico is good to go." The leader smiled in relief.

"Alright! Private, take Sad Eyes back home. In the meantime, we're going to enjoy the rest of the day off." The others grinned. Private took Mort and exited the HQ.

"Well, Skipper, this has certainly been an interesting last couple of days," Kowalski announced, pulling out his trusty clipboard and scribbling down more ideas for anti-lemur security features. "I'll be in my lab if you need me!" He disappeared through the side entrance and closed the door behind him. Skipper and Rico sat at the table. After a few minutes of silence, the leader spoke up.

"Rico, about you trying to pummel Ringtail. . ." The scarred penguin looked at Skipper.

"Huh?"

"I would have done the same thing." Rico smiled. Skipper tapped his beak in thought.

"However, since you couldn't get him due to obvious reasons, I think a redo is in order. Perhaps we can help Kowalski with the security upgrades. . ." Skipper smiled mischievously.

"Okay!" The two penguins got up and entered Kowalski's lab; they were going to get even with that rambunctious ring-tailed lemur for all the trouble he had caused.

* * *

 **Alright! Rico's finally ready for the checkup now! :D Will anything mildly interesting happen during the appointment? What do Rico and Skipper have in mind for Ringtail? Find out in the next chapter! :)**


	9. X-Rays and Sweet Revenge

**Well, here it is. . . The final chapter of "It's All in the Gut"! :D I shall first answer the reviews I received: maggiemccl99, yeah! Hey, if you do make one, I'd love to read it! :) Ecto-1, boy, are you going to LOVE this. . . ;)** **Okay, onward! :D**

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The penguins woke up at their regular time, precisely 0600 hours. Skipper went over to his coffee maker to make a fresh cup of coffee (because what else would you do with a coffee maker?). Private and Kowalski were fixing up some breakfast before Alice came to take them for their checkup. Rico was the last one to get out of his bunk; his bruise was getting better, but the numbness had long since worn off, and it hurt to move again. He grunted as he tenderly slipped out of his bed and landed on the floor, wincing. Skipper, who was now drinking his fish coffee, looked at him from the table.

"Are you okay, Rico?"

"Uh-huh." He replied, although his face showed that he was anything but okay. The leader turned to Kowalski, who was looking in the refrigerator.

"Kowalski, I think Rico could use some more of that ointment right about now." The tall penguin shut the refrigerator door and walked into his lab to get the medicine. He returned and approached Rico.

"Will you let me do it this time?" He asked. Rico nodded and Kowalski applied the correct amount of medicine to his feathers. The scarred penguin finished rubbing the cream in and smiled. Private glanced at the clock and noticed the time.

"Skippah, it's almost time for our checkup." The leader nodded at him and stood up.

"Alright men, let's head topside and wait for Alice to pick us up." The penguins climbed the ladder and stood on their iceberg. Within five minutes, she arrived and dropped four cages on them, one for each penguin.

"Must she always drop the cages on us? Why not just pick us up and put us in them like a normal person would?" Private asked.

"Because she's Alice, Private." Skipper replied. They were lifted and taken to the vet's office. Once there, she put them on the counter and turned to the vet, who was already standing nearby.

"They're all yours, doc." She said as she left the room. The doctor turned to them and smiled.

"Hello again. Let's see how you're doing." He said, opening Private's cage first and lifting him out of it. He took the youngest penguin into a different examination room and over to a nearby counter, where a small X-ray machine was already set up. He put Private down behind the screen and grabbed a remote to activate it from a safe distance.

"Don't worry, little fella. This won't hurt at all." He stepped out of the room. There was a small buzzing sound from the X-ray machine and the vet returned.

"That's it?" Private questioned, although he knew the doctor couldn't understand what he was saying.

"You're all done." The man picked him up and placed him back in his cage in the main room. Kowalski was next. The others watched as he was carried off to get his X-ray taken. Private turned to Skipper, who was in the cage next to him.

"That wasn't bad at all!" He said cheerfully.

"I'm glad to hear that." Skipper replied, smiling at him.

In the other room, they could hear Kowalski blabbering on about something scientific. They didn't know as to why. Soon, the doctor placed him back in his cage next to Private. The man opened Rico's cage and reached in to pick him up. Skipper smiled.

"And here's where all our hard work pays off." The doctor took Rico out of the room and repeated the process. He replaced Rico and took Skipper into the next room. Once his X-ray was done, the doctor put Skipper back, grabbed their results, and placed the images on a light box on the wall. As expected, all four penguins had perfectly normal X-rays.

"Well, it looks like you're all in great shape," The vet announced. "Alice should be here to take you back to your habitat any minute." Alice came in right on time.

"So, are they done?"

"Yes, they're free to go." He waved to the penguins before stepping into his office and shutting the door behind him. Alice sighed as she hefted the four metal cages and proceeded to put the penguins back in their habitat. After dropping them on the platform, she took the cages and left. Skipper turned to his teammates.

"Well, men, Operation: Checkup is behind us at last. Now we can go back to our regular routine. Of course, we have to wait for Rico's bruise to fully recover before his can store stuff again." Rico frowned but nodded.

"And I've finally finished those anti-lemur security upgrades, sir," Kowalski added.

"Is that what you were talking about back in the doctor's office?" Private asked. The lieutenant looked at him.

"Oh, you heard that?"

"Yes, but not clearly."

"Umm. . . Yeah, that's what I was talking about. In technical terms, of course."

"Why?" Kowalski frowned.

"I. . . Like to talk to myself about my inventions sometimes. . ."

"Wait a minute, Kowalski. Are you really afraid of getting an X-ray?" Skipper interrupted, cocking an eyebrow. The taller penguin squirmed under his stare. Finally, he caved in and threw his flippers up in the air.

"Okay, yes! I'm slightly nervous when I get an X-ray. It reminds me of. . . the dentist." He cringed upon saying the last word.

"But we don't have teeth, Kowalski." Private pointed out.

"I know! I need to get over my fear of the dentist!" Kowalski slapped his forehead, annoyed with himself. Skipper decided to go back to what they were talking about before.

"Kowalski? The security system upgrades?"

"Oh, right, I forgot. Yeah, they're all set and ready to go." He replied.

"Outstanding. We should probably test them out, then. . . and I know just the lemur to test them with." Skipper and Rico grinned at each other. Fortunately for them, they didn't even have to get Julien, as he brought himself over.

"Greetings, smelly, fishy penguins!" The lemur exclaimed, jumping onto their ice floe. "I was just coming to be borrowing some juice." To his surprise, Skipper smiled and gestured toward the fish hatch.

"Go right ahead, Ringtail." The lemur was too stupid to bother questioning the leader's enthusiasm and slipped down the entrance. There were a few seconds of silence.

"Wait for it. . ." Kowalski murmured, a smile creeping onto his face. Suddenly, there was a scream from inside the HQ.

"AHH! Help!" The penguins entered the HQ to see Julien dangling a foot above the floor in a small net.

"Oh, we'll help you, alright," Skipper replied smugly. "Rico!" The mohawked penguin grabbed his baseball bat from off the floor and walked toward Julien, grinning madly. The ring-tailed lemur's eyes widened.

"Wait! What is the barfy penguin doing!? I am the king! I cannot be getting beaten! NOOOOOO!"

 _ **The End**_

* * *

 **And that, my friends, is how justice is done. I'm sorry to any King Julien fans (he had fans?. . . just kidding! don't kill me, people) out there for the brutality. ;) Julien SO deserved it, though.** **So, how did I do? Let me know by sending a review! :D I don't care how old the story gets; send me your feedback, people! XD Also, be sure to check out my profile for more fun stories! See you next time! :)**


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